Don't compare, just appreciate LeBron James

It's not fair to hold him up to Michael Jordan standards as he's his own kind of special player

June 14, 2014|By K.C. Johnson, Chicago Tribune reporter

LeBron James looks on against the San Antonio Spurs during Game Four. (Chris Trotman / Getty Images)

You won't find much LeBron James-bashing among the dynasty-era Bulls.

"He's a special player," Bill Cartwright said. "He is so versatile that he makes everyone around him better."

That sounds like a certain former No. 23. But unlike Michael Jordan, who seemed universally beloved, James has drawn criticism for everything from TV shows to cramps.

"I wish people could just step back, remove the hatred and just enjoy what they're watching," Will Perdue said. "What he does and how he plays the game is how you're supposed to play the game. People just don't like him. I assume a lot of it just from The Decision.

"Some don't acknowledge him or give him the credit he is due. It's the ol', 'He's a good player, but …' Then they go off on their five-minute rant about whatever they don't like.

"He makes people around him better, just like Michael did with Steve Kerr and myself and players like us. Go back and look at the team that he took to the (2007) NBA Finals when he was with Cleveland. Let's not forget that at that time you could argue that the Pistons were the best defense in the league. In one stretch of that Eastern Conference finals, he scored 25 straight (points). I was at the game. It was just unbelievable. To this day, that's one of the most impressive performances I've ever seen."

In a May 2011 radio interview that got widely misinterpreted, Scottie Pippen, while calling Michael Jordan the best pure scorer ever, said LeBron James ultimately could be the best player ever.

Last October in Rio de Janeiro, Horace Grant laughingly chided his former teammate.

"Scottie was really drinking that day when he said that," Grant said, drawing laughter. "You can't compare anybody to Michael. Michael is the best player I've ever seen or ever played against."

Perhaps Bulls executive and Jordan running mate on the first three-peat John Paxson put it best on the same overseas preseason trip.

"We get caught up in trying to compare as opposed to appreciating what we saw in Michael and what we see in LeBron now," Paxson said last October. "You can appreciate both."